The nation's weather

A low pressure system moving through the Great Lakes will produce a cold front Friday that extends down the Mississippi River Valley.

This system will continue pulling in moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, which will allow for widespread scattered showers to develop across the Midwest and Great Lakes. Periods of heavy showers may develop along the front as it stretches down the Mississippi River Valley. This will bring more flooding problems to the Eastern Valleys. Evacuations will persist throughout the eastern Tennessee, as well as western Alabama and Missouri. As the system obtains additional energy from the Gulf of Mexico, these warm and humid conditions will produce showers and thunderstorms over the Southeastern states. There is a slight chance that these storms will turn severe.

In the Northeast, a slow-moving low pressure system will linger over the extreme Northeast. Expect a few light rain showers to persist in Maine, northern Vermont, and New Hampshire.

Out West, a ridge of high pressure remains the dominating weather feature for the Southwest. A trough of low pressure moves into the Pacific Northwest, kicking up a few scattered showers. However, warm and dry conditions in the Southwest will create favorable conditions for rapid fire spread. Winds up to 20 and 30 mph are likely across southern Colorado, New Mexico, and western Texas.

Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Thursday ranged from a morning low of 10 degrees at Big Piney, Wyo., to a high of 99 degrees at Palm Springs, Calif.